THISDAYonline

As you approach the town, the reflective resplendence of the famous Oguta lake sitted like a settled crater in the near distance, arrests your attention. Just like a leisurely drive through the winding, undulating, but tarred roads of the sleepy setting offers some soothing allure to the tired traveller who has come a long way.

But that is almost where it ends. Underneath this scintillating facade is a boiling cauldron of acute discord and bad blood running through the veins of some important dramatis personae in the unfolding drama set in Oguta community, Imo State.

For Mr. Bernard Obua, 72, a retired Judge of the International Arbitration Court and Member of the National Institute (mni), it is certainly not a tea party getting involved in a stand-off with the most controversial politician of post-independence Nigeria, Ogbuagu Francis Arthur Nzeribe, presently a Senator of the Federal Republic.

Nor can it be any more discomfiting and uneasily dicey when the latter, a major character in the dispute, denies any rift in response to a summon by the community's supposedly awesome traditional authority symbol, the Ogene-In-Council which consists of the oldest man in the community plus all the heads of the 27 villages in Oguta town. Not even the stretch of experience gained in town unionism dating back to 1952 and a rounded career in labour activism which culminated at the International Labour Organization (ILO) seems to have provided Obua with the skills needed to criss-cross the complicated political circus show that affairs in Oguta have become. But what is however settled is that the main theatre of focus which shot up all the maneuverings, manipulations, capitulations, and somersaulting that have been so far witnessed, owe their roots to the Oguta Community Development Union, (OCDU), the socio-cultural umbrella body for all Oguta indigenes who care to join.

But as things stand, not many Oguta sons and daughters are pleased with the current state of affairs as the union is currently embroiled in a protracted dispute which may snowball into a crisis if not immediately nipped in the bud.

Ordinarily, it could have been taken for the usual contention between rivals over the control of communal life in a countryside settlement. But not so in the extant geo-political configuration of Oguta, a place noted for its hospitality, boisterous serenity and fleshy fresh fish.

But for Nzeribe, the lawmaker representing Orlu Senatorial district (covering Oguta town) in the Senate, it was just another political battle for which all available arsenal must be unleashed. Reputed for his deft underhand tactics and often sudden sleight of hand, Nzeribe appears to have seen certain characters in the OCDU, a political obstacle that has to be crushed with any and every weapon.

Any doubt about such disposition in the Senator was shred in a reply he sent to the Ogene, His Royal Highness, Iyasara Iworisha, Oguta's oldest man, in response to a May 29th summons the latter sent out to all the parties in the OCDU dispute to appear before his council on June 19th. In a rather boastful tone, Nzeribe in no unclear terms, said this was one 'political battle' he was sure to win because "it is naive for you and them to hope or expect that I will not be aware and in control of my home base or political environment, legally and constitutionally," he told the Ogene.

Ironically, the quest to control the 'home base' through the OCDU has spurned forth a myriad of resistance both from home and abroad. Because as things stand, Obua is not standing alone on the other side. With him are members of the OCDU National Executive Committee (NEC) who resigned their offices alongside with him and majority members of chapters of the union spread across different states of the country. But how did it come to this point when the clouds gathered over Oguta now threaten severe downpour?

Though the genesis of the crisis can be traced beyond this point, trouble stole into OCDU affairs last year when the union had its national convention. Events at that meeting somewhat marked the watershed in the history of the union as a 15-member NEC was elected with Obua emerging as president for a consecutive term in office. But from various accounts told THISDAY, the convention did not end without a mismatch of unequal forces, the effect of which was drooled in the back-slapping applause of the moment. Indeed, it seems there was a deliberate unfurling of subtle but calculated strategies to over-awe the unwitting unpreparedness of sheer naivet‚ and inexperience.

Going by the terse account he gave of his role, Nzeribe may have employed both the sophistry and desperate undercutting usually witnessed in national conventions of political parties, to have his candidates installed in office in that convention as he claimed. Hear him: "We went to a national convention and elected 15 people and the 15 people were all of my making. It took me almost four hours of negotiating, cajoling and what not to get that line up." Dismissing such pervasive influence as claimed by Nzeribe, Obua however, admitted that the ranking lawmaker did play a significant role in determining the emergence of some of candidates as officials. "The Senator as a politician, was trying to see who he could put here or there so that maybe such a person would be loyal to him because as a politician he knows what he wants," Obua said.

The contention over influence notwithstanding, the convention was said to have been peaceful, conciliatory and its outcomes widely accepted by all present, including representatives from state branches of the union across the country, and the Ogene whose presence at the proceedings added legitimacy and moral authority.

But it appears that by allowing Nzeribe who has earned the sobriquet of the 'maverick politician' to have had such sway in that convention, the swansong of a peaceful OCDU, nay Oguta community in general, may have been let off on an unending spin which till date, reverberates sinister shrieks. Because from then on, Nzeribe was said to have been insistent on dictating activities within the union, a scenario staunchly resisted by the president who according to him, was "not the type to be pushed around that way."

"When somebody is trying to blackmail you, you try as much as possible to see if you can cooperate to see that he doesn't blackmail you and so we tried to cooperate," Obua said. But it soon got to a stage where "any further cooperation would make me lose my identity as a national president," he added.

Having decided to stand his ground and ignore nudgings and pressures from the Senator, Obua was then left to contend with the former's wrath. And if Nzeribe's antecedence in national politics is any pointer, then Obua may have stoked a fire for which he lacks the ingredient to extinguish....

According to accounts of the crisis given by those alienated from the OCDU, while the 2003 convention may have marked the watershed of events in the OCDU, real trouble began when Nzeribe began to show keen interest in contracts and other sundry benefits deriving from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2001 between the OCDU on behalf of Oguta community and oil companies operating in the area.

Their story is that the Senator, who was not privy to the initial negotiations which culminated in the MOU, a fact which he acknowledged to THISDAY, attempted to hijack the process and dictate the flow of patronage arising therefrom. According to Obua, Nzeribe wanted "to get deep into the whole system so that he knows what is happening, what things are accruable to the union and what things he thinks himself would benefit from."

But Nzeribe denied any interest in the contracts as he insisted he was not a contractor, quickly dismissing allegations that he had cornered some contracts for himself. "You want to insult me that I am in Oguta talking about 4.6 Km road when my peers are lifting oil in Abuja, and getting N300 million contracts," he fumed. He however admitted that he did use his influence to secure contracts for some indigenes whom he described as "Oguta young men who needed to be empowered."

But not done on this note, he also alleged that Obua and "his group" had been racketeering with OCDU recommendation letters for contracts from the oil companies, contrary to the terms of the MOU which allows only Oguta indigenes the priviledge of executing jobs meant for the community. "What I stand by is in keeping with what the oil companies want done, to empower the people of the community to help themselves," Nzeribe said. But apart from his misgivings about Obua's alleged dealings with contracts, Nzeribe also accused the former of failing to render audited accounts of the union to the government as stipulated by law. Incidentally, this allegation received corroboration from Mr. Alphonsus Irona, Chairman Oguta local government area, who insisted that the Obua-led leadership needed to answer questions in this regard.

But in his response, Obua wasted no time in denying the allegations which he described as mere propaganda against him. "I am not interested in any contract and I have not made any underhand dealings with OCDU money," he insisted, adding that "the only thing I detested that I didn't want was this dictatorial posture, personality cult, tyranny, anarchy and the community didn't want all these either."

But in spite of these allegations and denials, THISDAY findings within the community reveal amongst others, a tarred network of roads throughout the town plus the on-going construction of a civic centre/community library, all evidence that there have indeed been benefits derived from the presence of the oil companies in the area under Obua's leadership of the union.

But what appeared to be the last straw that made the seat too hot for Obua, were according to accounts, a series of sustained protests, intimidation and blackmail by women and youth wings of the OCDU who alleged that the national president was standing in the way of purported benefits derivable from a cooperative initiative Nzeribe had promised to broker. Obua's relunctance to open separate accounts for these sub-groups was interpreted as a ploy to deny them the expected benefits. Indications that developments were going to take a violent turn, Obua said, made him throw in the towel for peace to reign in the community. According to him, since Nzeribe had successfully hijacked both wings of the union and was using them to achieve his political objectives citing the last council polls as an example, it was wise for him to back down.

Interestingly, while the Senator may have employed high-wire politicking and arm-twisting tactics to get Obua out of office as is claimed by those opposed to him, facts on the matter might make the argument of resigning under duress difficult to prove in strictly legalistic sense.

In a terse letter dated April 5th, 2004, personally signed by himself and addressed to the NEC of the union through the National Secretary, Obua wrote: "I hereby disengage my services as the National President of the OCDU with immediate effect. I thank the Oguta autonomous community for giving me the opportunity to serve. God bless." The story is that when Obua's letter was received by the national secretary of the union, Nzeribe allegedly caused a Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the other NEC officials to be convened where Obua's resignation was accepted through a letter dated April 12th addressed to the latter. It was said that the Senator used monetary inducement to achieve that, an allegation he however denied strongly while insisting that Obua was never induced to quit office. "Everything that has happened so far is clean, proper, legal and constitutional and you don't have to like it," he stated emphatically.

THISDAY findings however observed that in the seven days lacuna between Obua's resignation letter and the response by the CWC, there had been consultations aimed at an amicable resolution of the crisis which failed to achieve results. Curiously, despite his denials, Nzeribe may have had a hand in the resignation of the national president when he asked rhetorically: "If I am able to instigate you to resign that's an acknowledgment of my importance in the union, isn't?"

Following Obua's resignation, events moved swiftly within the NEC as the pro-Obua elements either resigned in solidarity or were kicked out of office. While the first deputy national president, Chief Augustine Azogu and the first national assistant secretary, Mr. Joe Uzoka resigned in protest, the second deputy national president, Mr. Ochije Nnani and the treasurer, Mr. George Nwadiaro were suspended from office for "neglecting to fulfill the obligations of their office," as I.K Akeru, third national president who eventually moved up to take up Obua's position, put it.

It was this unsavoury state of affairs and its polarizing effects on the community that apparently informed the Ogene's summons in a bid "to avoid rancour, blood shed and bad spirit that may engulf our peace loving community," as he put it in the letter. Curiously, on the eve of the Ogene's meeting with the parties, news had gone round town that the police had declared the meeting not to hold because it could not guarantee security. This much was confirmed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Oguta town, Sufinayanu Muhammed, a suprintendent of police, who directed THISDAY to the state police public relations officer at Owerri for more comments on the matter. Pressed for further clarifications, he insisted that the Ogene's meeting had been "overtaken by events," adding that he was not aware of any imminent threat to peace stemming from the dispute in the OCDU. Apparently, he was referring to a parallel peace effort from the office of Irona whom, due to promptings from the State Government through the office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on local government and chieftaincy affairs, Mr. Godfrey Dikeocha, had set up a panel to look into happenings in the OCDU. The panel which membership included the Councillor representing Oguta community, Director of the State Security Service, SSS, in charge of the community, the DPO, amongst others, had its inaugural sitting on the Thursday preceding the Ogene's meeting where the parties in the dispute, including Nzeribe, gave testimonies. From that sitting, a committee was set up to look into the details of the dispute and make recommendations to the LGA boss. But THISDAY findings however show that despite the intervention of the LG boss, the state government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the problem does not escalate into a major crisis in Oguta. As at last week, the contenders in the matter were at the governor's office at the behest of a summons by the governor.

Even though the meeting eventually held, Nzeribe could not be caught off guard as he had a strategy in place. He declined to attend and through a representative, one Mr. Frank Nduka, told a dumbfounded traditional court that he did not have any dispute with OCDU members and played up the political card as the raison d'tre of the crisis. He declared: "I am not in dispute, personally, privately, for any reason whatsoever, with any OCDU member," while in another breath, he added that "I support the union, not the personalities." While accusing the Ogene of bias against him for which reason "I do not have to subject myself to your invitation based on wrong premise," he advised him "not to get involved with town union affairs, particularly this one." He continued: "The people writing letters, petitions and running adverts are all my political opponents. Since 1982, I have been on a political divide with them. I have, with the party I belong to, won and controlled everything politically. Some people are trying to use OCDU for their political aims. What they cannot gain politically by the ballot box, they want to get from OCDU."

It was a stunned Ogene-In-Council with less than ten Oparas in attendance, that temporarily adjourned the meeting, went into a private session and delivered a verdict after about three hours.

In a communiqu‚ read by Ndi Opara Benneth Okoriere, the decision reached was that affairs in the OCDU be returned to status quo ante, that is, Obua and others who resigned or were suspended be returned to office because the actions occurred under duress and that the women and youth wings of the union be integrated into the home branch. That decision expectedly drew the ire and disenchantment of Nzeribe supporters at the meeting who however did not know that the dreaded politician would come up with a counter sooner than later.

This much played out in another letter from the community's oldest man dated June 20th, summoning all the parties in the dispute to another meeting for the June 26th because "of the demand of Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe who has to come and speak for himself in the matter at hand." After carefully observing some inconsistencies in the June 19th meeting, like lack of quorum as why decisions reached "must be discounted," the Ogene went to describe that meeting as "a kangaroo court." The letter further noted that "nothing should be allowed to prevail by tarnishing the good name of the Ogene and dragging his exalted office into politics," and concluded that "the government intervention is supreme and should be allowed to conclude the work of the panel." THISDAY however gathered that owing to suspicions of surreptitious motives at play, majority of the Ndi Oparas had cause to confront the Ogene on the need for another meeting to give Nzeribe a chance to explain himself. But eventually, an all embracing meeting for all the interested parties in the OCDU affair was said to have been called for last weekend after a compromise was reached in the Ogene-In-Council.

While it is apparent from the several twists from the Ogene angle that some water must have passed under the bridge with the consequence that nothing good would come out by objectivity, not much confidence can be placed on the government panel either, as reservations have been expressed by the Obua group.

This notwithstanding, THISDAY confirmed that Obua failed to acknowledge before the panel that he was forced to resign from office as he has vehemently insisted. He also shied from making a clear case for himself, preferring as he told THISDAY, a more private arrangement to open up on the whole saga even though it was agreed that whatever decisions reached at the end of the day would be binding on all the parties to the dispute. However, on the charge of political struggle identified as the bane of the union dispute by Nzeribe, Obua denied that he was involved in any political battle with the Senator, neither was he being used for such purposes. "I am doing purely town union job, I have not attached any political leaning to the whole thing but he is taking it purely as a political struggle," he told THISDAY, while stressing that his resignation was indeed induced.

Nzeribe on the other hand, countered though without admitting any complicity, that the resignation of Obua was in order and only natural. He said: "If what they are saying that I instigated his resignation is true, the only conclusion is that the same legal and constitutional process, mechanism, and elevator that I provided that put him in office, has gotten him out. If the way he knew that the way to get into office was passing through my gate and he got office and he was asked to leave by going back through my gate, then its all fair game."

When asked to explain his rationale for choosing to acutely politicize a town union which purpose is to serve the needs of the rustic Oguta countryside, the Senator who was only recently edged out of his position as chairman of Southeast caucus of the upper chambers, decided to offer his understanding of a town union: "OCDU is a town union which means a private club, it is not a public property, you must be a member, that is why we go to conventions where only card-carrying members vote."

Such statement from the distinguished federal lawmaker could as well add credence to suggestions in some quarters in the community that he was hijacking the OCDU as a political platform to fall back on when his term in the Senate expires and since he was fast losing grip at the national level of politics. "If I am trying to fashion an organization as a political tool, what is wrong with that?" he fired back when confronted with the question. He added: "It is legitimate, legal and constitutional. Isn't it customary that if you have a winning style you don't change it? Why would I want to change a style that I have been using to win everything since 1982?"

Apparently, Nzeribe may not change his 'style' since going by his political antecedence, that is what works for him. Since 1982 when the name Arthur Nzeribe stole its way into the political lexicon of the country, many Nigerians have come to relate to it as modern day Machiavelli. Nzeribe started his sojourn in the upper chambers of the country's lawmaking body in 1983 when he won the senatorial election for his district in that year. After that brief spell was truncated by the military's incursion in politics, the Oguta high chief showed up on the scene in 1992 under the General Ibrahim Babangida transition programme, as a presidential aspirant. Quickly reading the signs that the General was only playing with the political sensibilities of Nigerians, Nzeribe switched over to become an ardent campaigner for Babangida to transmute himself into a military president. The climax of that venture was his active role, through the instrumentality of the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), in the annulment of the results of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections. But the whirlpool of events was too strong for him and others in the politically destructive mission to control as they soon found themselves in hibernation under the late General Sani Abacha military regime. But not one to stay out of the action, Nzeribe joined the fray of those calling for Abacha to transmute into a civilian president when the ban on politics was lifted by the latter. During that period, he won elections into the senate under the platform of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) in 1998. And since 1999 when the Fourth Republic came on stream, Nzeribe has remained a senator playing very critical roles in almost all the changes in personae and scandals that have rocked the leadership of the upper house. Indeed, the quintessential Nzeribe character is one known to thrive in scandals and survive in battles. And for him it seems, Obua and the OCDU is just one of those many battles for which the deadliest artillery should not be spared though for now, only the courts can make a pronouncement on whether or not Obua resigned under duress.

But aside the question of legal and constitutional finery that the resignation may throw up if a legal tussle is eventually started, there is yet a perspective to it that borders on morality and commonsense.

Though the circumstances surrounding it is also mired in disputations, a development where funds ambiguously traceable to a donation by Nzeribe were used to pay the salaries of some officials of the OCDU, an idea that was agreeably mooted by the Senator himself in the heat of that 2003 convention of the union. The inference easily drawn from this is that while the supposed donation itself was heavily controverted and may have been employed as a strategy to sway the mood of the people, the fact that salaries were paid by an arrangement mooted and initiated by Nzeribe raised the scenario of the proverbial master who pays the piper and therefore dictates the tune.

However, for the Senator who incidentally is the highest ranking political office holder in Oguta, the hullabaloo trailing the resignation of Obua as national president was unnecessary since the incident and subsequent developments within the union like the succession of the resigned officers by others on the NEC, do not have any infraction on the constitution of the OCDU. "A 15 man CWC which has been depleted to 10 is functioning legally and constitutionally," he maintained, adding that "unless challenged and proved otherwise by a court of law," he challenged the aggrieved parties to seek legal redress.

Incidentally, this is one option the pro-Obua group is not ready to shy away from, THISDAY gathered. And if the dispute is eventually taken that length, it is uncertain how Oguta would be better by it. But more significantly, it is dangerously uncertain how it would turn out for the peace of Oguta and indeed the political fortune of the powers that be in Imo State if the situation gets out of control, security-wise that is.